The transfer of healds can be accomplished in different ways, depending on the type of healds used and whether the healds have open or closed end loops. When healds having open end loops are being worked off, such as, for example, in the warp-thread drawing-in machine designated USTER DELTA (USTER being a registered trademark of Zellweger Uster AG), the healds are transferred onto the heald carrier rails already mounted on the heald frames. Since it is sufficient, in this case, to position the heald frames in the warp-thread drawing-in machine and align them with the heald holders, the transfer is simple and requires no special measures.
During the working-off of healds having closed end loops, such as, for example, in the warp-thread drawing-in machine designated USTER EMU, the heald carrier rails are filled with healds outside the heald frames and are mounted on the heald frames only thereafter. The heald carrier rails therefore have to be positioned in the warp-thread drawing-in machine, specifically in such a way that the healds surrounding the carrier rails on all sides by means of the closed end loops can be displaced undisturbed on the carrier rails.
In the machine referred to as USTER EMU, the heald carrier rails are mounted on spaced holding bolts which are removed temporarily for the passage of a stack of a plurality of healds. A distribution station having a heald holder is not provided here, but the heald carrier rails project with one end freely towards the separating station. Apart from the fact that the holding bolts, to be pulled out by hand and then pushed in again, are highly adverse to automation, and that the risk of a heald build-up in front of the first holding bolt increases with the number of heald carrier rails arranged next to one another, the free ends of the heald carrier rails projecting beyond the first holding bolt also constitute a potential source of faults. This is because it is impossible to ensure that each heald carrier rail is located exactly in the transfer path of the respective heald.